PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD
PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD Recent disasters like the 2011 Japanese earthquake and nuclear meltdown have highlighted the need for high-tech, easy-to-use disaster management solutions. A cloud-computing system created by researchers at North Dakota State University could help communities better manage disaster response and recovery.
The system consists of a cloud-based platform--which users, including first responders, city officials, organizations and volunteers--can access to find vital information and communicate with others.
In its basic form, the tool is a little bit like Google’s Crisis Response, which includes a person-finder to locate missing people during emergencies; however, the new system is more complex and reliable than past tools. Users can also access real-time information using all devices, including tablets and smartphones. They can also use the system to collaborate on emergency response
“Natural and man-made disasters require an effective and efficient management of massive amounts of data and coordination of wide varieties of people and organizations. This is where our system comes into play,” Juan Li, assistant professor of computer science and co-developer of the project, said in a statement.
The researchers were prompted to create the system by the 2009 flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota, during which vital information was difficult to access. During emergencies like this, the researchers said, the cloud-based tool would empower all residents “to become first-responders.”
“Our system provides a community-based, effective and self-scalable cloud-computing environment in which a diverse set of organizations and personnel can contribute their resources, such as data, knowledge, storage and computing platform to the cloud,” Li said. “In this way, local communities, institutions/organizations and individuals can seamlessly interact with each other to achieve massive collaboration within the affected area.”
The researchers have recently added updates to the system, including automatic information integration and interoperability improvements. They first presented their research in June 2011 at the International Conference on System of Systems Engineering in Albuquerque, N.M.
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